The Merman and the Barbarian Pirate Read Online Free PDF

keep his attention on his task, gently drawing the ring forth. Kemp had long ebony lashes, which flickered. Raef froze, but Kemp didn't stir, instead smoothing lips that, on a less masculine face, would've seemed too broad and lush, like a maid's. Belonging to this raw-boned pirate, they conjured perfection. Beneath that stubble, his features were like a roughly-hewn coastline.  When he sighed in his sleep, Raef sighed in unison. A moment later, he pulled the ring free and clenched it in his fist.
    He straightened, shaking from head to toe and not knowing how he'd succeeded. Kemp murmured wordlessly, caressing the worn cover of his book. Raef yearned to taste his fine mouth… and Raef’s toes curled at his own fickleness. How could he entertain such notions, with poor wronged Haverford waiting to be wooed? Clearly, he’d been starved of contact too long, but Kemp might rise up and slaughter him any second. He'd best get out of here, and was edging back toward the door when the sparkle of more treasure caught his eye.
    Haverford's bejeweled dagger, which lay on a low table spread with a compass, charts, and a quill pen.
    Raef chewed his lip. He should take that, too. It would please Haverford. After slipping the ring on his little finger, he stretched for the dagger—the same instant Kemp sprang from the bed, eyes wide, and grabbed him. Kemp slammed him against the cabin wall, thwacking back Raef's hand that gripped the weapon 'til he cried out and dropped it.
    "Stealing trinkets is one thing, but I can't let you creep around with knives, my boy." Kemp growled, and his pristine teeth glistened. Up close, he appeared even larger than he'd seemed standing beside Haverford. Raef stood a good height in human form, but Kemp, this bare-chested barbarian, towered over him and stooped to fit beneath the beams of the cabin.
    "Fisherman hooked your tongue?" demanded Kemp, shaking Raef roughly. "Or just your clothes?"
    Pinned to the wood, flesh upon flesh, Raef couldn't think, let alone speak. Reflected candlelight danced in Kemp's eyes, otherwise so dark they could have swallowed midnight. Raef had never been so scared.
    Kemp joggled Raef harder, clonking his head back against the wall with a painful crack. "Speak, damn you. Can't Haverford do his own dirty work?"
    That jolted Raef's tongue. "You're the dirty thief, and you're an idiot, too, if you think my lord would—"
    "Ah, so you do work for Haverford." Kemp stepped back, grasped Raef at arm's length, and raked a curious gaze over Raef's nude form. Though Raef had never thought twice about being naked, this examination made him squirm. Heat rushed to his cheeks. "Doesn't the bastard provide livery for his minions?"
     "Livery? I-I don't understand." Raef blinked, bewildered. Feeling evermore exposed, he moved his hands to shield his groin.
    "Neither do I, my boy." Kemp shook his head. "Tell me the truth now. Did you intend to kill me?"
    "No. I just wanted to retrieve what you stole."
    "Very well." Kemp released his grip about Raef's biceps. Raef fleetingly considered throwing a punch.  When Kemp grabbed the fallen knife and tucked it in a thick leather belt, Raef decided he couldn't risk it. Kemp snatched Raef's hand and yanked the ring free before striding to the door and flinging it open. "George, Peffy, you can come in now." To Raef's horror, the two revolting men he'd seen earlier, who must have heard the fray, dashed in. They froze, gawking at Raef.
    "What the flaming limpets?" The one with the face like a jellyfish spoke, his accent stronger and coarser than Kemp's. His mismatched eyes bulged. Raef felt glad he'd never sought human company before Haverford's. Why did they stare at his body so? He was just like them, so far as he knew, though their scrutiny made him self-conscious. Could there be something strange or wrong about him?
    "Don't get on the high ropes, Peffy," said Kemp. "It seems Haverford is too much of a nip-farthing to buy his henchmen clothes. How he gets